


Apex of the World

by digitaldreams



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Adventure tri.
Genre: Crest References, Introspection, No Dialogue, Vague Spoilers, daily updates until adventure: comes out!, prose, war mentions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:08:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23291467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digitaldreams/pseuds/digitaldreams
Summary: Twelve children stood at the apex of the world, each a culmination of their shared wars.
Comments: 26
Kudos: 22





	1. Eye of Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Show me your brave heart.

_ Show me your brave heart.  _

The words had echoed in his head since he parted from the faraway world. Taichi wasn’t sure where he had heard them, but he knew he recognized his partner’s voice eternally in the back of his mind. With each step he took, the words resounded, and he knew without asking that they were meant for him. 

They had been children walking into the flames of war. Uncertainty lingered in words left unspoken, but nothing needed to be said for the others to understand. Destiny had called for them, and being youthful and innocent, they were weak to its whispers. 

Courage called for him too. 

His pen still crossed pages when he lost the will to focus in the world that he belonged to. It sketched out the sun he knew so well, the one that had carved itself into his soul the moment he stepped into unfamiliarity. Bravery was what had shaped him when universes collapsed and life turned to little more than ash on the wind. 

Perhaps that was what drew Taichi back again and again to these words. He had been the first to drown in the fires, to feel the heat clawing at his skin as a thousand voices never to speak again cried for him even in death. He beckoned for his companions to follow him into hell, to rescue those who had done so much for them, and he never once looked back. Courage had crafted him from clay using fire as its tool.

He was created from the flames of war, and he couldn’t return to the way he had once been. 

An echo of his past had gone to summer camp, but he could not recognize that face in photos anymore. The pull of data and gears and heartache had him traveling away from home, facing monsters as he fought for his life. He was eleven years old, and he fought bitterly against everything that attempted to smother the flickering fire that lived in his chest. 

The smaller version of himself existed no longer. It had shattered somewhere along the way, though he didn’t know quite when it had happened. Perhaps it was when his partner, the one who had bound his heart to Taichi’s within seconds of their meeting, first changed into a dinosaur with a roar that would come to push off death time and time again. Perhaps it was when skulls and corruption attempted to drag them both into hell for straying too far from the destiny they were born to fulfill. Perhaps it was the time he realized what his brave heart meant and worlds played tug-of-war for his attention. 

He returned to Odaiba changed. He had seen the precursors of combat before ever reaching his teen years, a trend that would continue for the rest of that summer, the summer of war, strife, death, and heartache, but also of life, rebirth, beauty, and heart. He felt the other world pulling for him, crying for his courage, and he listened. His hand released from trembling digits as the sky prayed for him to return, and he did. He gave up the glorious return he had spent so long praying for when courage whispered into his ear, because what could he do but listen to destiny? It had called, and he allowed it to take him. 

Everything fell apart when he was gone, but he managed to pull it back together. Was it sheer force of will? Perhaps his determination was responsible. Taichi reunited his found family, and he knew that he was home, even if they were no longer in the universe he had grown up in. 

_ Show me your brave heart.  _

Bravery remained as he walked into fire as a mere soldier ready to act under the demands of balance. He saw pain, but underneath it all, orange glimmered, and a sun became the core of his soul. The culmination of everything he was inscribed itself over his chest, and it fueled him when death chased him with its talons outstretched. 

Courage was all that drove him forwards when the world tried to kill his flame. No power would ever extinguish his illumination. He wouldn’t let that happen. Too many had suffered for him to back down, so he fought. Desperation became his close companion, and he left behind the person he had once been for a new self. 

The newest iteration held the sky itself to his chest as he braved fire and grief to rescue those in strife. The new Taichi carved the dawn when darkness was on the horizon and demanded that the light triumph. He was a child marching into war, but he didn’t mind so long as it would keep those he held dear safe. 

_ Show me your brave heart.  _

Years of adventures caused this newly-birthed creation to evolve further. Again and again, a world of data called to him, and he answered each and every time. The manifestation of his Courage had disappeared, but it remained inside his soul, and that would never be broken so long as he drew breath. Flames molded a child of eleven years old into a soldier, a leader, that would rescue the downtrodden no matter how dreary the outcome appeared. 

_ Show me your brave heart.  _

Perhaps his partner had whispered those fated words as a trolley car disappeared into the sunshine, the daybreak they had forged with their own hands. Maybe that was why he could never forget the rhythm of those syllables on his lips, why he whispered them under his breath as he walked the city he had brought salvation, why he let them define him as the years went by. 

He was Taichi Yagami, the boy who carved daybreak using his Courage as a tool after braving fire. He had been whispered to by destiny, and he had answered its pleas gladly. His heart had been made brave by the turmoil of war, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing like this. It's a nice little experimental thing to do every once in a while. 
> 
> I decided to do a character study series like this to celebrate the release of Adventure Psi! I'm going to be posting one of these each day until it releases on April fifth, so you can expect updates often. 
> 
> I don't really have much else to say, so I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> -Digital


	2. Extended Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He walked a fine line between the light and the dark.

He walked a fine line between the light and the dark. 

It was dangerous how close he came to falling to the latter over the course of his summertime adventures. Stability was a faraway dream for Yamato, and he walked close enough to touch it but was never quite able to do so. 

Life shook the instant his mother and father sat him down with his younger brother to say their relationship would be no more. They insisted that family still existed outside of those four walls of their Highton View Terrace apartment, but he knew better. He knew pretty words did little to cover up the sickening lie that everything was being torn apart from the seams when he could do nothing to stop it. 

Perhaps that was when the darkness took hold of his mind, whispered in his ear that there was no happy ending for him. There were countless frontiers to explore, horizons to expand, but were they truly real so long as everything was fragmented and broken? Did dawn even exist? With how long the night was, he wondered if even the moon was real, because there sure as hell wasn’t any light in sight. 

Then came the tidal waves, islands, gears, and wars. 

Then came a partner who didn’t ask for words when actions were enough to convey everything. Then came a bond with the brother he was so sure he had lost when four walls were blown in by the hurricane of divorce. Then came a family different than he could have ever anticipated. 

And yet, the darkness lingered out of the corner of his eyes. 

It always seemed to pursue him no matter how close he strayed to the sun. In the world of data, it came in the form of a tree with way too much to say about his life. Looking back, Yamato longed to give that damn tree a piece of his mind, but he lacked the means to do so, instead doing his best to make up for actions that he wished he had never carried out in the first place. 

He could still remember all of the terrors he had unleashed during his time of turmoil when darkness was so close he could feel it on his skin. He had apologized over and over for the sins he had committed, for leaving behind his family, but it never seemed to be good enough. The darkness still sought him when he shut his eyes, and the world of dreams that rested in his mind never forgot the invisible tears that dripped from his fingers each and every day. 

Despite the darkness, there was light to combat it. 

Light was the way his little brother smiled as they shared a family for the first time in years. Light was how he discovered the true value of his Friendship and put it to action. Light was the blue written across his chest in an ink that could never be erased. 

The truth that shook Yamato’s world into disarray was the knowledge that his family would be dispersing. This allowed the darkness to creep into his mind, to sit on his shoulder and whisper things he would never say out loud. It gave his demons a platform to stand on as the weight of the world slowly began to crush him. 

What brought him back from such depths? A new family. It was found relations through a series of events involving monsters, combat, hope, freedom, heartbreak, and war. His parents were divided, his blood family left as a shadow of its former self, but blood of the covenant remained thicker than water of the womb. When a thousand evil claws tried to scratch and scrape and scar his life, it was the ties he made that eased him out of his own despair. 

Years went by, and even as life swept them up in its tempest, the memories remained. Blue light still shone from his chest in his dreams, chasing away the nightmares that plagued him eternally. The family he had found continued to keep him from letting the darkness mar his consciousness. Friendship, wolves, and ice remained by his side when the world turned against him. 

His need to protect his brother faded with time. His need to hold onto the last shred of hope that maybe the family he had been born to would reunite faded with time. Instead, it was replaced with a new urge. He longed to reach out to the people who had been there for him, his fellow children who had charged into the fires of war, and it refused to be quelled as time passed by. 

He extended his hand to the people who loved him, leaving behind the past that had kept him anchored down for so long. His Friendship reached out, pulling others in with the swirling power it possessed, and suddenly, he was free. His ankles were no longer tethered to a vision of who he once was that restrained him from becoming who he wanted to be. For the first time in his life, he felt as if he could fly. 

He walked a thin line between the darkness and the light, and in the end, he was touched by both. 

He was crafted from both sides of the spectrum, made into a young man who had seen hell long enough to want to keep others from slipping as he had. He was made into a young man who fought in honor of the light and those who had gifted it to him. The purity of blue written on his chest told of Friendship and joy, and amidst darkness and light, he found both.

The blood of the covenant was thicker than the water of the womb, but it was only the mixing of the darkness and light that taught him such. 

It was a fine line Yamato walked, but he didn’t mind, because it had freed him and forged him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are so fun to write high key I did not expect to like them so much
> 
> So there's Yamato! His was a lot harder to do than Taichi's, and it was on the tip of my tongue for ages before finally coming to me while I watched a movie review. The movie review had no impact on this whatsoever, but I guess that inspiration comes from weird places?
> 
> Tomorrow's character is going to be Sora, and I can't wait for her in particular. It's angst time, baby. 
> 
> -Digital


	3. Loving Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They say that you can’t love other people until you love yourself. 

They say that you can’t love other people until you love yourself. 

Sora could never say for sure if this was true. If it was, it invalidated practically everything she had spent years doing. Circumstances had forced her into taking on the motherly role for her companions, and she gave them her entire heart. If they were safe, she would do anything. She gave them all the Love that she possessed, because if she didn’t, where would it go?

Her Love sure as hell wasn’t going towards herself. She wasn’t sure quite when her own self-appreciation had vanished, but when she stumbled into a realm of data and whimsy, it was noticeably absent. She put up a mask of confidence to hide how deeply she struggled to bring herself affection in times when love and preservation were required to survive in a world that tried to kill their spirits daily. 

She put on smiles and reached out to those who hurt because if she didn’t, she would fall apart. She had to feel useful, and being a shoulder to cry on for other people was the only way that she could manage to do so. Otherwise, the demons would creep in, and no birds with wings bathed in fire could save her from that. 

Memories danced through her mind’s eye when she tried to solve the mystery behind her lack of self-care. First and foremost, there was the recollection of an argument she had gotten into with her mother. She had been asked to abandon soccer to keep from getting hurt in favor of a safer hobby, and she refused to. 

Soccer was a way she coped with her debilitating self-hatred. If she kicked the ball around enough, she could pretend it was her own heart and drain herself of all the dissatisfaction she held with her own abilities. She wasn’t sure if it had become such an outlet for her before or after she got into that argument with her mother, before or after they started to drift apart, but she felt it when water swept her into another universe. 

They said that she couldn’t Love others without loving herself, but she didn’t understand. 

How was she able to hold her friends, her family, as they cried and whisper sweet words of comfort if she couldn’t Love them? How could she sob for them when they hurt? How could she breathe with every ounce of care she had in her body and direct it towards them? Was that all a lie she fabricated to keep herself from slipping into the darkness that seemed to exist silently in all aspects of her life? 

Sora struggled with the phrase as soon as she returned to normality. When the world she called home shifted back to its default setting, she was hit with the words that seemed intent on attacking her. Was she truly incapable of caring because she couldn’t find it in herself to do the same for her own struggles? 

If it wasn’t possible, how did her partner form such a strong relationship with her? The pink bird she had come to know as her better half would not have come to care for her if she did not care in return. Her partner would not have evolved to a bird bathed in fires of pure hope to defend her if they did not Love each other, and that required that she find a way to Love her companion. 

If it wasn’t possible, how did a warrior of crimson appear when all traces of victory seemed lost against an impossible foe? The outline of a heart glowed at her chest to show that she was not as unloving as she had once claimed. Her doubts of being unable to love others were put aside the instant that red light burst forth from her soul.

And yet, the doubts returned. She found the symbol of her very essence in many places, such as on cards meant to embody how much one loved others. How could it embody who she was if she could not Love others? Her mind swirled with confusion as time passed by around her, but she didn’t find her answers. 

Perhaps she loved despite not being able to love herself. 

Maybe the reason she cared so deeply for other people was because she couldn’t find that same passion for her own spirit. She did not have the power to grant herself the beauty of self-appreciation, so she ensured that all others had access to that gift. She pressed it into the hands of others and asked that they carve Love for themselves no matter the opposition because she was unsure of how to take her own advice. 

Despite the world telling her that it was impossible for her, self-loathing and paranoid, to Love others, she did. In an act of defiance against a universe that claimed it was not allowed, she cared. 

As she grew older, the illusion appeared that she became compliant, feminine, and lost her rebellious spirit. In truth, she internalized it and let it illuminate her path towards the future. Her resistance was kept deep inside, right next to her heart, because she defied the world and cared when it was deemed impossible. 

She gave others the gift of Love that she could not enjoy. She longed to feel the warmth of self-esteem, but even if she couldn’t, she was happy seeing that others could. She let her Love lead her towards the path that might grant her the power to see value in her own existence. Until she could feel that luscious emotion for herself, she would do all she could to lead others to it. 

They said that she couldn’t love other people until she loved herself, but she didn’t care. She loved other people because she couldn’t Love herself, and she would continue to do so forever regardless of if she found the power to follow in their footsteps on her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been really excited for this one honestly. I've always found the first statement (which acts as the prompt in these shorts) to be a rather interesting one. I wound up weaving my own perspective on it in here through Sora, and I think it turned out rather well. 
> 
> It was mentioned in season one that she didn't think her Crest would glow because she thought she was incapable of love, so I decided to expand on that. One thing I learned from writing a thousand words from Sora's perspective is that she's a lot more relatable than people give her credit for, and her chapter is probably going to wind up as one of my favorites.
> 
> Next up is going to be Koushiro. His is probably going to be one of the harder ones since I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. Then again, I though the same thing about Yamato, and I wound up liking his a lot more than I expected to. Life is full of surprises, huh?
> 
> Anyways, that's about it from me. I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> -Digital


	4. World of Knowledge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knowledge is not inherently good or bad. How you utilize it causes its intentions to sway. 

Knowledge is not inherently good or bad. How you utilize it causes its intentions to sway. 

He believed this passionately for most of his life. He was logical from the start, focusing on finding the answers he required and how to find them. He longed to use this Knowledge for himself, to use it in a way that would bring happiness and joy to the world. It was neither good nor bad on its own, but he was believed he fell into the former category, and all that he touched seemed to feel that pull as well. 

Knowledge was never inherently good or bad, but sometimes, the response to it did lean towards one direction or another. 

Koushiro stood outside a door as he heard whispers from the people within. He heard something he knew he wasn’t meant to, and his answer was to turn his back on the ones who he called family. Perhaps it was because he felt betrayed. Maybe he was simply shocked. There was no way of saying for sure, as he didn’t even understand his thoughts on the matter. What he did comprehend was that he was drifting away subconsciously, and guilt had a grip on his heart despite his inaction to stop it. 

He brought his pursuit of Knowledge to summer camp and settled down in a corner with his laptop. He continued to search for the intelligence he sought, making notes and murmuring under his breath but never quite reaching full enlightenment. Still, he let his quest press on. 

His curiosity was both a boon and a bane when he was pulled into a world of danger and data. He sat on the floor of an abandoned factory and typed a thousand different syllables with hopes it would lead to something. He searched for Knowledge in another world, even if he was fumbling around in the dark while on a quest for answers. 

This time, his Knowledge brought smiles and salvation. He was pulled into companionship with a peculiar bug before he knew what was happening, and it acted as a temporary distraction from his search for the truth. 

It may have been a distraction, but it was one he was happy to have. 

He didn’t realize how much he was keeping in until someone was there to coax it out of him. He hadn’t understood how desperately he was longing for friendship until he had one there with him. He was surprised by how much he changed when someone actually put the time in to get to know him, and he wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

He sacrificed his own individuality in his pursuit of something more, but it was that familiar robotic creature that dragged him back into the light. The loss of his other friends set him on a downward spiral, one he wasn’t sure he would be able to come back to, and his search for Knowledge became the only thing that grounded him. It was all he had when the rest of the world had seemingly fallen away, and in the end, it was his downfall. 

Knowledge cannot be inherently good or bad, but it can impact him in a positive or negative way. 

Even years later, he thought back on how he had no idea what he would have done if his companion hadn’t been there to rescue him from himself. Knowledge had led him down a dark path, and it wasn’t until after he was corrected that he started towards the light again. How could something so incredible, so driving to him, be twisted and beautiful at the same time? 

Knowledge had shaped him for as long as he could remember. It had struck down all he had known when he learned the truth of his origins. It had shaped his future when he was sucked into another realm of simultaneous war and love. It had gifted him a purpose when he didn’t think he had one. It was dazzling and gorgeous yet fanged and untamed, and he was infatuated with it. 

He wasn’t sure if he would ever find the answers that he had spent so long searching for. The world bathed in data that had changed him still had many unresolved truths. There was too much to find out for him to take it all in during his short life. Some wondered what the point of his search was if it was endless. He wouldn’t ever be able to learn all he was curious about due to the fragility and fleeting nature. 

Some answers might have been out of his reach, but he was still infatuated with the concept. After spending so many years obsessed with all there was to learn, he was unable to go back to the way he had been before. 

In a way, he didn’t want to do so either. Koushiro had made a name for himself under this concept, and he had figured out who the person he wanted to be was as a result. He had been shaped by his pursuit of Knowledge. It brought him countless hours of joy along the way. 

Plus, it was one thing he shared with his partner. They had connected over their insatiable curiosity, and even when they were worlds apart, he felt connected to his digital friend through this simple trait of his. They reached out for one another as they walked towards the future and the Knowledge it held. 

Knowledge was neither good nor bad, but the influences it had on people could have a specific leaning. 

For him, the leaning was towards positivity and light. It had forged him into a suitable human being, a passionate friend, and a member of the family he had once drifted away from. It connected the rogue pieces of his heart and bound them with a secure glue made of purple light. 

Knowledge could not be inherently friend nor foe, but every aspect of it could extend outwards towards the spectrum of morality, and for him, it changed his life for the better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Koushiro? Good. Son. 
> 
> I wrote this at midnight because it's storming outside and I can't sleep when it gets loud like that. I'm so glad that I don't have to actually get up and go to school at ungodly early o'clock tomorrow. 
> 
> Also this chapter was definitely not based on Cyrus Albright from Octopath Traveler what are you talking about--
> 
> Next up is going to be Mimi!
> 
> -Digital


	5. Tears of Sincerity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tears are not a sign of weakness, but rather, a sign of strength. 

Tears are not a sign of weakness, but rather, a sign of strength. 

She found herself carrying the burden of a thousand lost souls on her shoulders, and when life beat her into an unrecognizable pulp, she cried for them. She sobbed for the souls of those who deserved to be alive but weren’t due to the tempests of war tearing apart countless lives. She wished that she could do something even if she knew that she didn’t have the power to do so on her own. 

At first, life in the alternative universe had been a chore at best. However, she soon grew to see the beauty in it when she connected with a lovely green creature with the most beautiful flower resting upon her head. Her determination and wish to survive evolved itself into a cry of Sincerity to defend others, and in a town built only by toys, it manifested itself physically. Her life was changed forever, and she knew she would never be able to go back to the way she had been.

That day had been a victory. They had won that time, but they would not always find triumph in the many battles they faced. 

She did her best to bite back bitter tears as she watched an angel transform into white feathers dancing on the wind before disappearing entirely. Death was a regular part of life, but she had never been touched by its horrifying claws before. She tried to keep herself together, but that night, she felt silent tears slide down her cheeks when she tried to sleep. 

Was this what this other world was made for? Did it exist for creatures to suffer and die? She knew death was not permanent in the world that crafted an echo of her skin from data. She  _ knew _ that, so why did it sting so much when the knowledge that somebody had to be reconfigured in the first place hit her with the force of a truck?

Another failure came in the form of letting a monster of blood and bats break into the world she called home. Enemies ran throughout the city wildly with intentions to hurt everyone within the limits of Odaiba, and the pressure put a constriction on her heart that tried to crush her spirit countless times in the few days war was raging just outside her bedroom window. 

She cried when her companion faced danger. If she did not do something, surely her partner would die. A tear cascaded down her skin, staining the grass that was far too bright for how dismal the day was. Suddenly, green light exploded forth, and she looked down to see the embodiment of her heart had finally activated. The marking was an outline of a tear. How fitting that was. 

That time, they were brought salvation. Her Sincerity activated something bright and glowing, and it was a small step to winning the war. Mimi won that time, and while it was a radiant moment, she knew it would not last. 

And it didn’t, as much as she hated to say so. The monster that an arrow had killed returned, and after he was brought to his knees by eight columns of light, the sky was cleaved apart. She looked up at the realm of data twisted into a spiraling peak that threatened to shatter all hope and sunlight. She returned there alongside her found family, unaware of the trauma that awaited her on the other side. 

She made makeshift graves each time news of a death reached her ears. She saw too many creatures, too many allies, too many  _ friends _ give their lives because they believed in eight children and their power to save the world. She watched as their bodies were torn apart, and there was no hope of reconfiguration in that moment since the village known for rebirth was tainted by poison. They were dead for real, and there was nothing she could do about it. 

After all, this was war, and she could not fight against that alone. 

Tears were her sign of strength, and she shed them for the people who could not. 

She cried for the people in her group who were focused on the goal ahead. She sobbed because she knew that if they stopped to let their emotions overwhelm them, they would not be able to get up to fight again. She could hold herself behind the mask of composure while her heart was crushed again and again by her own grief. 

When she returned home after bidding her partner farewell, her family gave her the news that they were going to move. They didn’t trust the country anymore after the monster attacks, so they were going to America. She didn’t resist as hard as she thought she would have. 

She was leaving behind everything she had ever known, and all her friends were in Japan. The gate to her partner was in Japan, though there were supposedly more in America… She didn’t fight as hard as she expected, because she wanted to run. 

She wanted to abandon her trauma and go somewhere that she could heal. She couldn’t stitch herself back together in the place where she was hurt. Every street seemed to hold a painful memory of going to war or the aftermath of combat. Bloodshed was all she could see in her mind, and she wanted to escape it. 

She stayed there for years, allowing her heart to finally find peace. Her entire existence breathed a sigh of relief as recovery took place in a place where nobody could see. Suddenly, once she was freed, brought salvation from her agony, she wanted to go back. She longed to return to her home, to the place where her friends were. Trauma still lingered, but she would power through it with the influence of her friendship. 

She cried for the day she would return. It was a sign of strength for Mimi, and one day, she would be strong enough to go back home despite the darkness that rested just out of sight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I subscribe to the head canon that Mimi went to America as a way of running from her own trauma after the events of Adventure, so allow me to scream about that now. I love her, and I feel so bad for her. 
> 
> I'm so glad she goes back in Tri, and that really helps to complete the cycle I proposed for her here. She can't run forever, and she gets to confront it again with her friends. I love her so much. 
> 
> Also, I've been going with Japanese content for names and continuity up to this point, but I chose her English Crest name here since I thought Sincerity fit more than Purity. I'll also be going with Reliability for Joe since I feel like that will fit better there as well. 
> 
> Speaking of him, tomorrow is going to be Joe!
> 
> -Digital


	6. Reliable Rock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone had to keep them out of trouble

Someone had to keep them out of trouble. 

Perhaps it was his own paranoia that led him to the role of being the anchor for the group. They all had their roles to play, and his job was to keep everyone else grounded in a world that spun faster than they knew how to understand. 

His anxieties only built the longer they were there, but he had to keep a relaxed look. After all, if they saw him panicking, they would freak out as well, and if they got scared, nobody would want to move to get the hell out of there. Somebody had to keep them sane, and as the oldest, it was his job to look after them all. 

It was odd, because he hadn’t always been like this. Before, he had been perfectly content to let his own fears suffocate him. He never bothered to fight back since he didn’t seem to think there was a point. Everyone was used to it, and there were no moves made to change it. 

Maybe it was the burden of expectation that brought him to play this part. For years, Jou heard that he was meant for more. He had to aim high, to become something that everyone would be proud of. That was his duty in life. Each step he took was shaky and uncertain. He was more than certified to be in the position he had arrived at, but still, some darkness in the back of his head whispered that was not the case. 

The weight of expectation was crushing, and he was unable to carry it on his own. He had to fit everyone’s views of him perfectly. Making a mistake was fatal, because nobody knew how that would impact his future. He had to remain perfect, the rock, the paragon of everything and more. That was the reason he drew breath. 

When a mountain pierced the clouds and tore their group in two, he ran towards it instead of away. Deep down, all he wanted to do was sprint as fast as he could in the other direction, but he climbed as high as he could. This is what everyone would have wanted for him, and it was his job to meet their expectations. 

When an attack took place, he did something bold and perhaps stupid to ensure nobody was hurt in the process. His job was to maintain his Reliability. In order to do that, he had to conform to the mold set for him by others. He would do anything to fill that perfect picture for someone else, even if he knew that he didn’t fit the image that others proposed in the slightest. 

He was rewarded for his bravery, and he finally felt as if he had contributed something. He was good at anchoring everyone else, but he didn’t feel as if he had the power to do much more than that. His Reliability was good for something at least. 

Everything he was had been carved to make a pretty picture for others. 

He was worried for others above himself since he saw so little value in himself. Everything he did was out of obligation to meet some perfect ideal that others set forward until he met them. Even after his found family came to gather around him, it took ages for him to break the bad habit of conforming to what everyone demanded of him, and even so, it didn’t entirely work where breaking his inferiority complex was concerned. 

After an attack in the bay of Odaiba, he was left alongside the youngest of their group. Neither of them could swim, and they were both drained after the assault that left them stranded in the first place. He could feel his consciousness fading fast, and he handed over the stray driftwood to his companion in hopes that he would live when Jou was unable to do so. 

The water seemed to pull him underwater as his vision went to black. Gray light shone among the dark waters, and his Reliability manifested itself, saving them both along the way. It was a staple in his memories of that summer, but it was also the root of many problems. 

Had he given up the driftwood because he didn’t care about himself? He had placed the life of someone else above his own, something thought of as noble by most. However, for him, it was a reminder of the glaring issue he had suffered from for most of his life. His self-loathing had reached a peak, and he didn’t know how to confront this startling truth. 

In a way, he never did. 

When they marched back off to war, he remained the one everyone depended on. He brought supplies when they were drawn into the flames of hell, knowing it would be important to stay prepared as death stared them in the face. 

Death stared him in the face many times as friends turned to ash on the wind. 

Still, he did his best to remain the anchor. The group separated, but he did his best to act as glue for the small party he was part of. It was his duty to keep everyone united, part of his power as the personification of Reliability. 

He remained this way for a long time, defending those who needed it because that was his duty. It was his job to make sure that others didn’t get hurt. That was part of his purpose in life. 

In a strange way, it was this fascination that led him down the medical path when the second group of children set off to the realm of data. His interest in all things relating to healing and restoration remained. It was the one way for him to show his purpose: to defend others and keep a family of misfits stitched together under the pressure of a world that tried to fracture them. He was the healer, the reliable, even as the years passed by around him. 

After all, someone had to keep those kids safe, and it was going to be him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appreciate him so much. He often gets swept aside in favor of the other characters of Adventure, but Jou really is great. He deserves everything, and he gets the short end of the stick too often. Appreciate Jou immediately!
> 
> Tomorrow is going to be Takeru, and you bet that I'm going to have a field day with that one since Takeru is my favorite. Expect more angst in the future!
> 
> -Digital


	7. Wings of Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Staying positive might as well have been his talent.

Staying positive might as well have been his talent.

Even after his family was broken in half by a messy divorce, he had Hope that something good would happen to stitch together the cracked remains of his life. When people asked, he would always insist that he was fine, because if he let the illusion slip, he might not be able to throw it back up again. 

Part of it was genuine, but there was a lingering bit at the back of his mind that was a lie, and maybe it was that segment that fueled him. He didn’t know for sure, but he was positive that he was really damn good at staying positive when he really shouldn’t have been able to. 

Going to summer camp with his brother was like a dream come true. If their parents were letting them see each other again, maybe this was a sign that life was finally going back to normal, the way it had been when he was young. He clung to the faith that maybe this was a sign things were looking up. 

When he was caught up in the dangers of another world, he was afraid at first, but then something hit him: he was able to be with his brother. His Hope for the future remained, and he was happy to embrace the idea that maybe this was the first step back to the normality he had craved for so many years. 

His Hope was shattered the instant the devil entered his life. 

Takeru stared up from the ground as an angel manifested. The partner that had cared for him like he was family had changed into something completely different, and he was entranced. 

Like all the stories said, the angel defeated the devil, but at what cost?

He couldn’t help the tears that streamed down his face as his companion turned to little more than white feathers. They transformed into an egg, and he held it as tight as he could. His friend had just died for him. Even if monsters could be reconfigured and rebirthed, that didn’t matter to him much in that moment. 

After all, he had the image of death in the back of his mind, and it haunted him at every turn. 

He could not bring himself to have Hope for ages after that. Even when his partner returned, it didn’t seem genuine to him. Was it impossible for him to reach that optimistic side of himself after all that he had seen? He had no idea, but he wanted to find out. 

A gruesome battle left him alone. His brother set off to find help, but he was on his own. He was vulnerable, more so than he had ever been in his life before. He sat on the pier and stared out over the water, praying that there would be something positive soon, but nothing changed. The months passed, but his Hope never returned. If anything, it only escaped him further. 

Things began to get better as his family--the one he had put together using rogue children at summer camp--reunited, but his optimism never fully appeared the way it was supposed to. The manifestation of his joy and Hope didn’t come back. 

Later on, he would learn that this was because of trauma. Seeing his close friend die in front of him was too much for his mind to handle, and he began to break under the pressure. Even at the young age of eight, his brain was changed, and he didn’t know how to go back to the way he had been. Was that even possible?

He was falling the next time his Hope appeared fully. 

A twisted clown had him tumbling through the air to his death, but he still managed to hold Hope deep down. He was unsure if it was real or not, but he didn’t care in the slightest. Yellow light overtook him, and his partner evolved to protect him. His Hope had done that. 

But if his Hope was really responsible, why did he feel like he had so little of it? 

After a tearful farewell, he returned home. His family did not come together as he wanted, but he learned to hide his disappointment the best he could and press on. That was all he could do, right? 

Unfortunately, moving on did not always come easily. 

He woke from nightmares of seeing his friend die again and again, and he could never quite get back to sleep after witnessing white feathers turn to data on the wind. His chest heaved as sobs escaped his lips in the darkness of the night. Hope and Light were supposed to fend of the darkness, but he didn’t think he had that power in those moments of quiet sorrow. 

Trauma only returned full force when he saw the face of the devil again. He stormed after an emperor and forced him to submission out of pure rage. His head pounded, and he knew that darkness was whispering just out of reach. He was supposed to hold the darkness at bay, so why was it coming after him?

In the end, Takeru found hope in the very person who had saved him. 

It was a source of fear and trauma for him, but he found safety in his partner. He didn’t know what he would do without him. 

They endured battle, war, separation, infection (sometimes, he still looked down and saw the scars on his arm from the savage bite of loving teeth), and hell itself. Of course they were unstable, walking on eggshells to keep from tumbling into an inescapable void of depression. 

However, it didn’t matter. After all, they had each other. 

His Hope was found in a small creature that nestled in his arms whenever they meant. For so long, he had been unable to find Hope for himself, so he sought in others and let it fester in his core as purifying light of yellow. 

Even if he wasn’t able to do it alone, staying positive might as well have been his talent. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I care him. So much. 
> 
> Takeru might have the most baggage out of the kids. I mean, he was there for all of Adventure, all of 02, and all of Tri, and those seasons didn't hold back on him at all. He was the first kid to lose his partner, so that's got to count for something, right? 
> 
> I have to admit that it was hard fitting all of that stuff into only a thousand words, but I rather like how this one turned out. I love making my hopeful boy suffer! 
> 
> Next up is going to be the only fitting next step: Hikari!
> 
> -Digital


	8. Darkness in Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If the Light was meant to repel the darkness, why did she seem to attract it?

If the Light was meant to repel the darkness, why did she seem to attract it?

She did not understand why she was so vulnerable to the voice of the devil, but she wanted to block it out. Every time it happened, she longed to clap her hands over her ears and scream to drown out the noise, but it was impossible to get rid of something that lingered inside her own mind. 

Was her body even entirely hers? Multiple times, a manifestation of the Light, Homeostasis, so it called itself, took root inside of her and used her shell to speak words that were not her own. Homeostasis had projected its Light inside of her, and the darkness craved it. For a being meant to protect her and the rest of her world, it wasn’t doing a very good job by leaving her empty and hollow for shadows to fester in the back of her mind. 

She was the only one who seemed to be unable to use the power of her own Light. It fueled the people around her, regardless of if they were human or monster, but she could never seem to internalize it. She shone brightly, but she could not use her own Light to her advantage. Heaven forbid she try to make something positive of the horrible hand she had been dealt. 

After the first time the Light took her over, she thought it was going to be the only and last time. However, things did not go as she hoped, and even years later, the Light grabbed her body and used it against her will. She knew something was happening, but she was unable to stop it or otherwise control herself. Was she even Hikari, or was she merely a puppet created solely for the purpose of being forced to speak in the name of a Light she had never been able to understand?

Fiction always told her that Light was able to fend off the darkness. If a pure force that was white and shining cleaved through the black terror in front of it, the darkness would scatter. However, when it came to her, it was as if the darkness had a forbidden attraction to her Light, getting close enough to touch her with hopes of locking her in a cage for the glow she had never wanted. 

The ocean of tumultuous shadows found her when she least expected. She felt sick, and all of a sudden, the darkness of the world made real grabbed her and dragged her into hell. She struggled and fought against it in a bitter struggle, but she was not able to win. She only escaped when the Light of Hope shone through her life to bring her salvation. 

For a being of Light, she was pretty damn bad at embodying it. 

The darkness held a longstanding fascination with her despite her attempts to discourage it. On her worst days, every step she took felt like she was either barely escaping the black void or walking right into it. The world became a hazy fog that hung over her tightly enough to suffocate all optimism from her fragile body. 

She felt obligated to bear her Light alone. After all, everyone else seemed to be able to embody their traits just fine, so she shouldn’t have been struggling. It wasn’t their duty to hold her trait afloat while simultaneously trying to survive themselves. It wasn’t fair, and she refused to put such a burden on anyone else. No matter how many times they insisted they wanted to aid her, she refused because she didn’t think she deserved it. 

This was her family, and she wanted to keep them safe. Dragging them down with her did not fit that definition, and she refused to stoop to such lows. 

It wasn’t until there was a more forceful effort that she shared her heavy burden with others. She was not the only one meant to be the Light. As a whole, their group was meant to defend both worlds they knew and the countless others they were unaware of. They were all meant to be the Light to combat the darkness, even if she was the only one who held a pink glow in the shape of a sharpened sun to her chest. 

For the most part, she still held her struggles in, trying to utilize her own Light no matter how many times she had failed to do so. However, she realized one thing. 

Maybe she didn’t need her own Light. 

The glow of the people she had grown to call family was bright enough to illuminate her world. She found radiance and pride in doing what she could to defend them. Heaven itself seemed to shine in their eyes, and she was honored to be able to see such beauties. 

Through many years of bitter struggles with broken confidence, she did her best to take in the Light they all showed and use it for herself. Somehow, she managed to find her first scraps of happiness relating to the pink that rested inside her by seeing it in others, and she finally realized that perhaps her Light was stronger when she let her family aid her in seeing it. 

Hikari realized that her Light was more than she ever gave herself credit for. It inspired a wizard to take grand strides to ensure that she would be safe. It allowed an angel to appear and act as her better half. It killed a demon who went after her and endangered her family. 

Her Light was strong regardless of if she saw it or not. 

For a long time, she wondered what the point of being Light was when there was always dark that tried desperately, constantly, to swallow her. However, she learned after years of struggle that perhaps there were positives just as there were negatives. 

Just as there was darkness in Light, there was Light in darkness as well. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this one a lot wow
> 
> Also it's late so I'm probably going to duck now but tomorrow will be Daisuke woo
> 
> -Digital


	9. Shining Loyalty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shadow that loomed over him was damn near inescapable.

The shadow that loomed over him was damn near inescapable. 

He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to get out of it. He had looked up to their fearless leader from the very start, and he was meant to follow in his footsteps, but he hadn’t the slightest clue how to do so. He was the second person to wear the goggles, but deep down, he knew that he would never be able to fully match up to the first. 

He held them with pride, as they were a symbol of strength and resolve among their merry little band of twelve. However, some nights, he looked down to see his own reflection in them and wondered if he was really a leader that everyone would be proud of and look up to. He was unsure of the answer, and in some ways, it haunted him no matter how hard he tried to push the thoughts of negativity to the back of his mind. 

For a long time, he only held the traits of older members of the group. He was not them, nor would he ever be, and he felt like a cheap imitation. If the traits of the previous two were blended together to form some sort of odd combination, it would create him. He did not hold any trait on his own, and he was not sure he would ever be able to say that there was a reason he was part of the team so long as he was merely a copy of the true leaders of their party. 

However, he pressed on and didn’t let anyone see his insecurities. He didn’t want anyone to lose faith in him as a leader as his own belief in himself wavered. It was important that he hold up a tough front to get everyone to pay attention to him as a leader, to acknowledge that he was a figure to be followed and cared for. 

There were some parts of him that he knew were not imitations of anyone else though. He was the only one of the group to reach out his hand to a fractured soul left as a pile of shattered glass by the forces of darkness. He smiled to the lost heart and invited him inside, adding another member to their family tied between two worlds. It was a choice he could never imagine going back on, and the others all appreciated it. 

He mused over his lack of a solid trait for a long time, and eventually it came to him. The answer seemed perhaps a tad obvious, but he decided to listen to his instincts regardless. 

The blend of Daisuke’s two inherited traits, Courage and Friendship, could create something greater. Loyalty was what he internalized as his own power. It fit in with everything he had contributed since joining the party. He held unshakable faith in his companions that he somehow kept strong even in hopeless situations. He was loyal enough to the suffering kind spirit to invite him into a place where he would be loved. 

A leader had to be loyal to all members of their party. If he doubted them, what reason did they have to believe in him? He knew he lacked the skills of the leader who had come before him, but he was still going to do his best to keep the group wrapped together. He refused to leave anyone behind, his Loyalty undying in the face of terror. It burned as a flickering golden flame inside him, and it would never be extinguished no matter what happened to him. 

He had never been one for drawing, but after he came to this realization that his Loyalty made him who he was, he found himself designing the symbol of embodiment for himself. Once he finally found something he was proud of, he sketched it everywhere. When he caught sight of the golden outline, a small smile would cross his face, and he knew that was who he was. He was the personification of Loyalty, and that would never leave him no matter what happened, just like his family would never leave him. 

He wasn’t sure when the shift had taken place, but soon enough, he was positive that everyone in his found family loved him with all their hearts. They were aware that he was not the leader who had come before him, but they did not care in the slightest. Trust had been placed in him, and they were loyal to him just as he was to them. 

As soon as he recognized the Loyalty others held for him, his doubts started to melt away. The mutual feeling of trust had sparked something inside him, something that allowed his fire to burn brighter and stronger than ever before. They knew Daisuke was not the previous leader, but he did not need to be. All that mattered was that he wore the goggles with pride and led them towards a brighter horizon, one lined in golden hope of the future. 

When he caught sight of his reflection while taking off his goggles, he smiled to himself. He was not the person who had worn them before him, but he did not need to be. He was not a cheap imitation, and he never had been either. He was his own person, but that did not mean that he was worth any less than others. 

He didn’t know for sure if they had noticed the change in his personality, but he hoped that they caught onto it after a while. He was unable to keep the smile off his face when he thought of the golden light of Loyalty. He was not the bearer of Courage or Friendship, and he wasn’t solely the heir of those traits either. There was something more to him. He was Loyalty, and that was all he needed to be. 

Perhaps he didn’t need to escape the shadow of the goggles. Maybe it hadn’t even been there in the first place. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daisuke, I love you. Let that be known. 
> 
> In case you hadn't already noticed, I came up with a new Crest for Davis! I was debating between Loyalty and Determination for a long time, but I wound up going with the first one since I thought it would work better with the theme of this entry. I've got new Crests for Miyako and Iori too, but you'll have to see what I decided on for them. I definitely stepped outside the box for Miyako's, and Iori's is a suggestion I found online somewhere. There are a lot of ideas for potential Crests for these three, and I hope I've chosen some that resonate with you readers. 
> 
> Tomorrow will be Miyako!
> 
> -Digital


	10. Resourceful Rogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She always seemed to live outside the lines.

She always seemed to live outside the lines. 

She hadn’t ever been popular, regardless of if you considered her friends or family. She was the black sheep, never quite fitting inside the mold that others proposed to her. She was not the type to bend too easily to the whims of others, so life passed her by while she stood on the sidelines without any family or friends to call her own. 

As lonely as she was, she refused to change who she was fundamentally just to make other people like her more. It would be lying both them and to herself, and she would never stoop to such lows. She longed for companionship, but she was not desperate enough for it to force her huge, bold personality into a compliant cube to be manipulated when others grew bored of her. 

So, Miyako found herself turning to other means to bring satisfaction to her hollow existence. To her, that meant late nights sat in front of a computer and tapping away at the speed of sound on a noisy keyboard that echoed through the darkness. It meant finding information that was hidden from the eyes of many through her unorthodox methods. It meant murmuring to herself and memorizing odd statistics that nobody would care to listen to when she gained the ability to say them off by heart. 

However, she remained true to herself, and that was what mattered most. 

She witnessed a war on the internet of monsters lashing out at one another. She had spent many years as an outsider by that point, but when she stared through that screen at the fast-paced action and the creatures who seemed to have a purpose, something in her clicked. There were voices echoing through the screen, so people had made contact with these beasts. 

That was what she wanted. 

Maybe she would have better luck with companionship if she was communicating with monsters rather than people. They had to exist out there somewhere, and she was going to find them no matter what got in her way. 

Late nights turned into later nights. She pushed her glasses up her nose when they drooped downwards over and over in between rapidly typing out the characters that might lead her out of her lonely downward spiral. If she could find them, maybe she would finally have a place to call home, a group to call family. 

More than ever, she lived outside the lines. 

She knew how to hack before she even knew what had happened. She continued to hone her skills, typing away frantically as she tried to find some foothold that would lead her to monsters and whimsy. However, each road ultimately led to nothing, and her hope was beginning to dwindle. 

After a year of fascination with those mysterious beasts, she seemed to know that she wasn’t going to find them, and she moved onto other, greater projects to distract herself from her own loneliness. All she wanted was somebody to talk to, but nobody seemed interested in her. She was always too loud, too smart, too enthusiastic, too demanding, or too stubborn for others to bother with her, but she wanted to change. 

However, she did find the monsters she had sought for so long, and instantly, the color seemed to return to her life. There were others in the same boat as her, but they didn’t seem to be there out of obligation. Even if they would be forced to interact, they seemed to actually enjoy her company. She even got closer with the young boy who she had been talking to loosely for ages, and she realized that they had a lot more in common than she ever could have guessed. 

A small red bird was the one bound to her soul eternally, and she was happy to have him. They were different, radically so, but they still shared a special connection that she wouldn’t give up for the world. He was serious and quiet while she was bold and extroverted. They brought out the best in each other despite their differences. 

One night, he sat on her bed and watched as she clicked away on the same old computer that had remained faithful to her even after years of chasing phantoms of monsters. He described her with a word that she never expected to hear, but once it reached her ears, everything seemed to fall into place. 

Resourceful. 

That was what she was. She used the means at her disposal to solve problems at any means necessary. When they were trapped in a house warped by monstrous bugs, she managed to fend them off with some quick thinking and action. The pieces around her seemed to fit into place well, and she could use them in ways most would never even dream of. 

Technically, she didn’t embody any specific trait. She inherited a pair from some of her superiors in their group of destined children. However, even if she used them frequently, neither one seemed to fully fit her. She was a strange combination stitched together with bold intelligence seen by few. 

Resourcefulness was perfect for her. As for her hacking, was that not a show of her Resourcefulness? It had to be. No other members of the group could reach her skill level, not even the other genius who she carved her path after. He was the noble, and she was the rogue. 

That night, she remained awake while everyone else in the city slept. The gentle turquoise light from her computer illuminated her face, and the soft buzz echoed in her mind. She was restless, but she didn’t mind in the slightest. 

Miyako had finally found her place in the world. She had a found family to call her own at long last, and she didn’t need to force herself into an unfitting mold to reach them. They accepted her for who she was. They accepted her Resourcefulness. 

Maybe living outside the lines wasn’t as bad as she had always feared, because if she hadn’t gone beyond the boundaries, she would never have found her truth. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Resourcefulness. I told you it was something outside the box. 
> 
> Miyako was a lot of fun to do. She doesn't undergo as solid of a character arc as Ken does, so I had a lot of room for interpretation. I figured this would be a great chance to inject a little something extra for her with the power of head canon. I guess I love the ones where I get to head canon things, because the same wound up applying to Mimi. Oops. 
> 
> Tomorrow will be Iori, and Ken will round us off on Friday!
> 
> -Digital


	11. Firm Integrity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a strange way, the quietest of the children was one that held them together.

In a strange way, the quietest of the children was one that held them together. 

He was younger than the rest by over a year, and he was shy as could be. He hadn’t ever been the best at talking to people or making friends, but even so, his quiet kindness helped to keep their merry band glued together. He didn’t know for sure when he had become such an important figure in the party, but he slowly began to notice it as time went on. 

He was the voice of reason. Without him, the louder, bolder personalities would take hold and perhaps lead them down the path of calamity. He was the rational thinker who paused before every decision to think over the potential outcomes and consequences. He held everyone back from making a foolish move, ever careful in the face of danger. He was stubborn enough to prevent any catastrophes. 

Even if he was quiet, he was the string looped around eleven similar hearts to prevent chaos from taking them all in its firm grasp. 

He was said to be a combination of two other traits: Knowledge and Reliability. The latter always stuck out to him, and he wondered if it was perhaps the more accurate out of the two. Whether he chose to accept it or not, he was an anchor among the flames of war, the sole source of water that could calm the inferno. He played the vital role of wrapping everything together. 

Integrity was how his predecessor of gray would describe it. 

Iori thought of the word often when the silence pulled him into its clutches. Once upon a time, he had claimed that he was not reliable when he and his companions were trapped beneath the ocean as danger swirled outside the fragile glass windows. However, fate had chosen to prove him wrong, and it got him thinking that perhaps he was more than he gave himself credit for. 

The concept of Integrity continued to echo through his head when he stood in front of an imposing stone to try and save it from annihilation. His mission failed, but in the end, he was proven to be honest to himself with strong morals keeping him standing against hardship. Was that not Integrity? Did he not fit that description? 

Another moment that stuck out to him looking back was the shadowed face of his teammate as anger took him by the throat. He watched in shock and confusion at the sudden shift, though he would later learn the reasoning for it and completely understand. He was frightened at the time since he did not yet comprehend the choice, but he let his companion walk away to accomplish whatever goal lingered in his mind. 

Later reflection told him that this was another example of Integrity, though this time, it led to division and separation, even if it was only for a while. His teammate remained loyal to his own ideas and morals, and it led him elsewhere, perhaps deeper into the darkness his dandelion radiance was meant to combat. Meanwhile, Iori remained behind to fulfill his truth, to save innocent creatures who needed his help. Integrity involved remaining honest and true to one’s morals, and even if it led them in different directions, it remained consistent in both cases. 

The one moral that he refused to bend on was involved heavily with death. He had lost family before, and he had managed to put together another one using his thread of white Integrity. He would not let this one meet the same fate, torn apart by darkness and death. He would never resort to killing another living creature because he didn’t believe that anyone deserved to die. Even if they did, his grief held him back, and he could not let life fade from another because it was a sour reminder that he had lost what he cared for once upon a time. 

When he was forced into a corner and had no other options, it haunted him. Could he really remain true to his trait of shining white if he could not follow his most basic law? His faith in himself began to waver. How had he sat by and inflicted the irreversible condition of death onto another living creature after enduring such grief when he lost someone he cared about? It pained him to think about, and the mere thought made his stomach churn until he lost the will to take another step forward. 

Somehow, he managed to come out of this doubt on the other side, and while he was unable to stand tall and proud for a while, he was somehow able to move on. He let his white thread begin to stitch his fragile heart back together so he could press on as he once had. Nothing would ever be the same again, but it was important to try and go back to some semblance of normality. Others were relying on him to do so. 

It was a while before he could stand to look at himself in the mirror, and when he did, he questioned if he was still deserving of the word Integrity. He had been backed into a corner, but was that any reason to betray everything he was?

Through silent encouragement of the self, he managed to tell himself once again that he was worthy of the idea. He had gone against it once because he didn’t have a choice, but that wasn’t going to stop him from upholding his ideals in the future. He would not lose anyone ever again, nor would he see the face of death staring back at him in eerie silence. He was going to remain firm when forced to go heel to heel with opposition, because Integrity meant staying true to himself when the world told him it was easier to fall apart. 

Morality was the white thread that kept their group together, and it was the small voice of shy Integrity that ensured the string was held tight always. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was probably the hardest chapter yet, but I like how it turned out. Iori got Integrity. I love this one on him, and I think it fits rather well. 
> 
> Tomorrow is the last chapter: Ken!
> 
> -Digital


	12. Resurfaced Kindness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did he really deserve to be called kind?

Did he really deserve to be called kind?

For a long time, back when he was young and innocent, he would have believed so. He didn’t hurt other people, and he did what he could to make them happy. He stayed by his brother’s side despite scathing arguments and deep jealousy, and was that not the epitome of Kindness?

Aging changed him before he knew what was happening. He had always been curious, and it was that same curiosity that led him to sneak into his brother’s room to find a small device of a gentle blue. He examined it in the darkness, infatuated with the appearance of his own reflection in the screen. A small smile appeared on his face, and part of him knew that he belonged there more than anywhere else.

Ken betrayed himself in the moments following the argument with his brother. He had always been nothing but loyal to his dear brother, but in the heat of his anger, he wished to be alone. He wished for disappearance.

Unfortunately, he got his wish.

He stood over the casket, young as he was, and sobbed for a brother that breathed no longer. Was this his fault? He had wished for his brother to disappear, and less than seventy-two hours later, his brother’s spirit left this world, leaving him isolated and overcome by grief.

He had always been told how kind he was, but was this truly Kindness? Was he really as nice as others claimed if he had wished for his brother to die?

Without his brother, he was the center of attention. He should have been happy, but he wasn’t, because he wasn’t the one who deserved it. His brother should have been right there with him, but due to selfish wishes, this was not the case.

Was the adaptation over the next few years for him or for others? If the world wanted his brother, then he was happy to provide. He was shaped into something that everyone adored, and before long, everyone had forgotten his brother even existed. After all, why bother looking back when the new child genius was right there in the moment?

Grief had a choke hold on his mind for years after the funeral, and in the quiet moments, he could hear the last screams of his brother before death took him from the land of the living. He screamed at the darkness to force it from his head, and soon enough, black light morphed him into something he never would have imagined himself to be.

Words of others insisted the phrase still applied to him. Kindness. He was Kindness, but was he really? He spent countless nights awake late in front of his computer watching creatures from another world. He had suffered in the past, so why should any others deserve to have joy? If he had endured pain that no other could hope to comprehend, why could they be happy while he wanted to claw off his flesh and burn his bones for words he had come to regret? If he could not find salvation, no living creature deserved it.

Thank the heavens for the existence of light.

He would have been consumed by his own darkness, left as a shell of the person he had once been, if not for five columns of light that glowed against the darkness. He could still see the shining of gold, yellow, pink, turquoise, and white when he closed his eyes, and he used it to fend off the horrible images that resurfaced of his rule as an emperor.

Even if he was the embodiment of Kindness, he had been capable of horrible things.

He created a monstrosity from a combination of countless living creatures, and he was unable to find reason when he looked back on it. Was it out of a lust for power? Did he want to see suffering more than he realized? Had he been infatuated with the look of fear in the eyes of the people who would be his friends one day?

He was unable to forgive himself for what he did that day. It led to him losing his partner, and he realized how sick and twisted he had truly been. How had he let himself slip so far into the depths of hell? Why had he allowed the devil to grab him by the ankle and flood him with negativity until he was no longer able to breathe in the ocean of black that had become his life?

Ken could never forget what he did, and he did not think that he deserved the trait of Kindness. He was unable to move on no matter how desperately he tried because he knew that the dead wouldn’t be able to forgive him, so why should he bother offering himself mercy? He wasn’t deserving of love, laughter, or joy.

His companions refused to let him think such, and without their Kindness, he never would have been able to find his way out of the dark. They were patient and generous when he struggled to untie himself from the bonds of the past. They showed him that he was capable of more than inflicting pain upon others.

Their words taught him that he could make amends for the damages he had caused. He could embody Kindness in the future while still condemning what he had done in the past. No person was entirely good or evil. He could do bad things while still being a caring person.

The road ahead of him would be long and daunting. It would be quite some time before he could forgive himself for all that he had done, but he knew that he would not be alone. His friends would be there no matter what, and his partner would not leave his side. They had forgiven him long ago, and they would be there until he could forgive himself.

They would be there until he could convince himself that he was worthy of the Kindness he had been gifted. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's the last entry in this miniseries! I hope that you all enjoyed, because I know I had fun writing these analysis pieces. I can't wait to watch Adventure Psi when it releases tomorrow, and I think this was a great way to lead up to it!
> 
> If you want more content like this, feel free to check out my page. I write a lot of fiction on here, and hopefully something will fit your fancy. If you wish to contact me directly, I have a linktree leading to other social media, including my discord server, for you to check out as well. 
> 
> Regardless, I hope you had a nice time reading 'Apex of the World'!
> 
> -Digital

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoying my work? If you wish to receive updates on when I post new content, feel free to check out my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/__digitaldreams)  
> or [Discord server.](https://discord.gg/9MBReeF)  
> I occasionally post previews of upcoming stories on both, and there are discussion chats for my series on Discord. Any sharing of my content or other interaction (kudos, comments, bookmarks, etc.) is greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading, and I hope you're liking it so far!


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